Smoothies to help sugar cravings/bingeing

cloudmuncher16
cloudmuncher16 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So for a long time I have struggled with bulimia, and when I eventually managed to break the cycle of purging/overexercising/taking 7 laxatives a day, I was still left with the binge eating. It has taken me years to realise how bad my binge eating actually is but I finally did and tried everything to stop it, but the more I tried to stop it the worse it got.
I became very uncomfortable in my own skin, even more so maybe than when I had bulimia.
So I am testing out a few things to try and help:
- Smoothies
- Celery juice craze
- Staying active/burning calories but not over exercising.

So I haven't actually tried the celery juice yet, it's coming with my next shop, but I have been doing the smoothies and exercise/movement for about 2 weeks now, I think. Basically how I do it, is to swap one of my meals (usually breakfast or lunch) for a smoothie instead. I make sure its packed with fruit and veg, and usually has either soy milk or juice in it too. I wanted to make sure I was getting a lot of vitamins and protein in. It was not about restriction at all but rather about looking for what I was missing in my diet - e.g. vitamin D, fibre, and proteins.
The second part was to remain active - so rather than pushing myself to do cardio or strength every day, I just make sure I am doing what I enjoy most. Some of my fave ways to stay active are - aerial arts (hoop, trapeze, acrobatics), hot yoga and cycling to work. That last one also saves you money, and I am hella broke. If I don't feel like exercise that day I just make sure to get steps in on my fitbit. However because I have FMS I still have days where I do 0 steps, and I am soooo ok with that.
So far it has overall improved my mood, my attitude towards my body, my cravings (50/50 tbh), and my energy/tiredness levels. Sometimes its hard to notice the effects straight away but I see subtle changes such as how many hours I can work before becoming tired (usually it's around 3-4 for me, but recently I have found I can do maybe 6). Disclaimer on this one though as I have just realised it might be because I had a week off work too... Still, the cravings have subdued a little which is nice, and I do feel full after this smoothies way longer than I do if I have a normal breakfast.
Now there are still some bad things too, sometimes I still get overwhelmingly hungry and even a little dizzy, and crave sweet things. BUT for the most part, I feel a bit better.
I highly recommend people with chronic pain/fatigue/FMS giving it a go, as I feel like a lot of people with chronic illness miss out on a lot of their dietary nutrients sometimes.
I can post some recipes if people are interested, might even post them anyways as I am obsessed with making them now (see, still addicted to food, just in a healthy way).
Emily, 22, UK

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Does your smoothie contain any fat?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    edited April 2019
    She didn't say she was juicing, she said smoothies. Not a waste. It's whole foods. And since it's just one meal, I don't see how fat is a big deal one way or the other.


    I think you're right, Emily, getting good nutrition always helps me to stay within my calorie goals.

    I like avocado in vanilla protein drinks. I know, but it's good. I don't think it's necessary to get fat in a smoothie, not sure where that comes from but avocados have fat and they don't change the taste very much they just give it a creamy consistency.

    Good luck on this idea, I love smoothies.

    *ets: oh, celery juice. Yeah I wouldn't bother with that. I would eat the celery.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I like fat in a smoothie, as I like them to be similar to the meal (typically breakfast) they are replacing. Mine usually do, either because of avocado or nuts (or homemade nut milk which contains nuts) or yogurt. I think they are tasty.
  • HelenGerdes
    HelenGerdes Posts: 26 Member
    Definitely a berry bowl will knock out a sweets craving. My personal favorite, is super great at keeping your energy up too. All good sugars, used vegan chocolate chips bc chocolate is amazing lol
  • nocgirl72
    nocgirl72 Posts: 139 Member
    Just letting you know I also struggle with binge eating and sugar cravings.
  • cloudmuncher16
    cloudmuncher16 Posts: 7 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Does your smoothie contain any fat?

    Hi!
    Yes it does, I usually add soya milk as my liquid as I hate thick smoothies or I add vanilla soya yoghurt or avocado to make it creamier.
    I make sure that it's dense and not restricting in calories but also I try not to even count the calories or measure anything too accurately (as this leads to me googling the cals).
  • cloudmuncher16
    cloudmuncher16 Posts: 7 Member
    mdreddie wrote: »
    Try a cup of hot coffee with 1 tsp of l-theanine powder and 2 tablespoons of horizon heavy cream (occassionaly you can also sprinkle in half a tsp of Hershey special dark cocoa powder). And it helps to have a standard multivitamin everyday to keep you covered for that as well.

    This has little to no sugar and is high in fat, which kills cravings and keeps you calm, focused and happy. You can then and should try to focus on other things you have to do for work or school or strengthening your body with exercises. Focus on anything else but food and you'll be fine, because there's really no need to binge. Food is always there, especially in developed countries. So you need a bit of willpower to enjoy it thoroughly when it's time to eat and to truly take a break from it in a calm and happy way (supported with teas and water for additional support or whatever low calorie method works best for you). This balance will greatly support your health goals and will also help you foster a better relationship with food.



    Hey,
    Thank you so much for this, I will definitely look into this and will be adding cocao powder every time as I often find putting dark chocolate in my smoothies helps with cravings and sugar intake!
    I do try to focus on other things, but I find myself with a lot of spare time on my hands due to being off work with FMS. Any suggestions on how to keep myself busy at home?
  • cloudmuncher16
    cloudmuncher16 Posts: 7 Member
    nocgirl72 wrote: »
    Just letting you know I also struggle with binge eating and sugar cravings.

    Hi,
    If you'd ever like to talk, please feel free to give me a message.
    Binge eating is so hard to deal with, especially trying to challenge the guilt often felt afterwards! In reality we are craving/binge eating it is because our body is lacking in something else - nutrients, vitamins or even something mentally like anxiety or depression.
    Thank you all so much for your replies btw!
    Emily
    x
  • cloudmuncher16
    cloudmuncher16 Posts: 7 Member
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    Just so you know, juicing is a waste of food and money.

    Hi,
    I have actually started to try the celery juice and I can assure you that I don't waste the leftovers! I freeze the leftover celery to use later in smoothies or soups. I am also not juicing btw, when I have the celery juice in the morning I also eat breakfast 30-60 mins later. It is just an experiment to see if it helps my FMS/binge eating in anyway.
  • miakelaa
    miakelaa Posts: 43 Member
    I've stopped eating refined sugars but I've really enjoyed eating Ezekiel raisin bread with a little bit of peanut butter when I have a sugar craving. My go-to smoothie recipe is one banana, two cups of Costco power greens/spinach/kale, one cup of frozen mango, and one cup of frozen strawberries/blueberries. I'm not sure if you've looked into this, but you could try Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen app. The goal is to eat a lot of whole grains, beans, fruits, veggies, nuts, flax seed, etc. I've found that when I follow it religiously I don't feel hungry and am in fact so full that I can't imagine eating anything else. I'm not sure if this will help you but it might be worth trying.

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